We, the students of Palo Alto Unified School District, who have signed this petition, are in support of keeping weighted GPAs at Gunn High School and aligning Paly’s system with Gunn’s system. The PAUSD school board has been discussing to remove the weighted GPAs from the Gunn; however, we want to keep weighted GPA in Gunn high school. Currently, Gunn and Paly have slightly different systems regarding weighted GPAs. Both Gunn and Paly only report unweighted GPAs on transcripts; however, on Common Application, Gunn counselors will enter weighted GPAs at students’ request, while Paly counselors will not. The status quo has not been changed for several years. Many of you know that over seven hundred universities, colleges, and all the Ivy Leagues use Common App. However, some universities use neither Common App nor recalculate weighted GPA. As a unified district, the PAUSD school board would like to align the systems so that both Gunn and Paly will be reporting unweighted GPAs only on both the transcript and Common Application. The school board’s decision, unfortunately, will be a disadvantage for many students. Weighted GPA is an important factor for admissions and in consideration for certain academic scholarships. On the other hand, unweighted GPA will continue to be a source of added stress for students because it puts more emphasis on aggressive protection of that "A" grade, and many students would not challenge themselves with AP classes, just to protect that "A" grade. This is contrary to what the school board is trying to achieve! Many Palo Alto School District students, including Maya Katz have already voiced their concerns about the decision that the school board is evaluating; her voice is our voices too. Students will shoulder the negative implications and outcomes for the rest of their lives. It is also critical that we voice our opinions and let the district school board know what we want. We, the students do want to have an option so we do not lose or limit our opportunity, challenge ourselves and feel that our efforts have a positive impact. If you support keeping weighted GPAs on your transcript, please sign this petition and share it with any other fellow students.